Abstract : The article presents, interprets, and evaluates the results of an experimental study of the distribution of electric field strength in an arc ventilated by longitudinal-turbulent air and created in a direct current plasmatron. Quartz-enclosed tungsten wire probes were inserted at distances of 40 mm along the length of the arc and were connected to a cathode ray oscillograph. The family of U-shaped curves (E, I) obtained by the authors of the present work and by others using different methods is offered as testimony of a certain regularity in the process. The experiment pointed up numerous deficiencies entailed by using a gas flow to keep the arc from touching the walls of the generator. (Author)